This category is for characters that are famous within TTU itself. (Fame in our world will, of course, be determined by the success of the stories!) These characters are either household names, major movers and shakers, celebrities within their field, or have at least received enough media attention to be occasionally recognized by name.

To put someone in this category, add "CategoryFamousCharacters" to the bottom of their character page (but read the guidelines below first).

It's recommended that you have at least a passing familiarity with people in this category -- adding in references to them and their actions can help pull your stories into the rich weave of the setting.

Famous characters should be used regularly as cameos and references, but with caution as story characters (and even more so if their creator has limited their use). Even their tiniest actions will be scrutinized by the media and have an unpredictable ripple effect far beyond themselves. If you want to create new famous characters, it's much easier to add them to canon in later eras of TTU, where the setting is currently far less defined. (This isn't to say you can't make a character who was famous in the early days after TheChanges, but they should be run through ProposedIdeas first and thoroughly vetted to ensure they won't cause conflicts with existing canon.)

Characters in this category cannot have availability of Private. They should show up throughout the canon and have a significant hand in shaping the world, and they need to be available to other writers for that to happen. Other characters should name-drop them when appropriate. Few non-famous people will personally know them, but many will know of them.

Many people who are famous on Earth will also be famous for same or similar reasons within TTU. For instance, George W. Bush still wins the U.S. presidency in 2000, even though TheChanges happened before his election. Others will fade into obscurity because the events that would have catalyzed their fame never came about. For instance, Matthew Shepard probably would have still died in 1998, but would not have become a cause celebre with the world's attention so focused on theri rights instead of gay rights.

In order to steer clear of legal issues, famous real people must not be major characters within TTU stories and must not be given character pages, but defamation law broadly permits us to make references to them and speculate about what their actions would be in a world full of magic:

"Opinion is a defense recognized in nearly every jurisdiction. If the person makes a statement of opinion rather than a statement of fact, defamation claims usually cannot be brought because opinions are inherently not falsifiable."

and

"[In the United States,] for [a] public official (or other legitimate public figure) to win a libel case, the statement must have been published knowing it to be false (also known as actual malice) or with a reckless disregard to its truth."

Your country's restrictions may vary.

In summary, use discretion when writing about real-world celebrities within TTU, but generally they can be mentioned and given references within your stories. Non-famous real people, on the other hand, are strictly prohibited (including yourself); use fictional characters instead.